An unexpected reunion! Tom Hanks helped the Cleveland Guardians open their annual baseball season with a special guest.
The 65-year-old “Save Mr. Banks” star was tasked with holding the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game on Friday, April 15, shortly before the Guardians took on the San Francisco Giants. There, Hanks had some emotional support in Wilson, the volleyball he starred with in the 2000s movie “Outcast.”
In the film, Hanks played Chuck Noland, a FedEx executive who ended up on a desert island. His only source of friendships is a volleyball, affectionately known as Wilson. On the white ball was a red handprint with a smiling face engraved on the front. During Friday’s game, the letter “C” was painted next to the impression in honor of the Guardians’ residence. (In the end, the Giants won the game 4-1.)
“Here comes Wilson,” the CBS Sports hosts explained in a comment after the ball began to roll away from Hanks, who was preparing to throw a baseball. “Well, it’s windy today! [He] is always an unsurpassed actor. …Here he is again! Wilson has his own mind [or] maybe it’s controlled remotely.”
Although it’s been more than 20 years since Hanks and Wilson first became best friends on screen, the California native fondly remembers his time on set.
“When we were making this movie, we just had some daring adventures,” Hanks recalled during an appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast in November 2021, calling “Rogue” one of his favorite films he made. “I mean, we were in the middle of the ocean just—you know— trying to take pictures. We have been to Fiji twice. …There was nothing but adventures every single day, every night.”
He added: “[One day] the sun had not yet risen in the east, and I was getting up in only swimming trunks and a T-shirt. I’d make myself a cup of coffee. The house will be quiet — everyone will be asleep. The stars disappeared. There was no moon. The sky hadn’t even turned blue in the east yet, and I was making a cup of coffee, and then walking along the gravel road to the pier. And then I went out on a special fishing boat… got along with the pilot, the assistant and one of the guys from the team. And we were leaving, and within 50 minutes the sun was rising behind us in the open sea, and we were heading to the island of Monuriki, where we were filming.”
Hanks, who has been married to actress Rita Wilson since April 1988, eventually won the 2001 Golden Globe Trophy for starring in the film “Outcast.”
